Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this debate and I am glad to hear the contributions of my colleagues on this topic. As the Minister of State with responsibility for eGovernment, I am keen to see as many public services put online as possible, not least because people expect it. People are now used to conducting their commercial and social lives online, and there is no reason that the Government should not deliver services to people online as well.

There was a huge increase in the uptake of online digital Government services during this pandemic. That was by necessity, of course, and involved people who traditionally would not have used our services online. There was a huge increase in sign-up and new services were also offered, including, for example, the PUP, which most people took up online. People also got the results of their leaving certificate examination online and applied to the CAO for college places online. The services availed of, therefore, went beyond the traditional online renewal of passports, which can be done completely without going into an office, or driver licences.

However, there are people who cannot use digital services for various reasons. That may be because of age, disability or difficulty in coping with the language, and those people will need help. The State is not a commercial operation; we are here to provide public services. People with those kinds of difficulties need what are sometimes referred to as assisted digital services. They need to go into an office, and that could be a post office, an Intreo office or other locations such as Citizens Information offices, where somebody can sit down at a computer screen and help those people access the services to which they are entitled. Such provision will ensure that people are not sidelined, and that concept and goal will be included in the updated national digital strategy this year.

The Internet has been a threat and a difficulty for the post office network because the increase in email has been taking away what was that network's basic business of delivering letters. Luckily, however, the post office network did not just sit there and the opportunities that were also presented by the Internet were adopted. The post office network is thriving as an institution and post offices have sustained their presence because they have managed to get delivery business via the Internet as well. When we have dealings in the post office with postmasters and postmen and postwomen, the staff are highly professional, innovative and a wide range of financial and public services are available. The post office is an institution which is a shining example of a State agency and the post office network is to be admired. One reason we should do that is because much post is being delivered by zero-emissions vehicles, thus saving people from air pollution in urban areas and reducing the impact on climate change.

The importance of the post office network has been clearly demonstrated throughout the pandemic. A range of initiatives provided through post offices has helped to support local communities, the elderly and the vulnerable. Initiatives such as check-ins on elderly and vulnerable customers, the delivery of newspapers and the recent commitment to free mail to residents in care facilities have been welcomed across the country. We all share an appreciation of these initiatives and a belief that there is potential for An Post and the post office network to make a further contribution across many areas of public business and community life in Ireland. The programme for Government recognises this and also notes the Government's commitment to putting the post office network on a sustainable footing. The serious decline in the volume of mail and the effect of Covid-19 on footfall through post offices have severely impacted the postal network and postmasters. I am aware of the concern expressed by the IPU and that has been raised directly with the Minister of State, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton.

Subsequently, the IPU published a report, commissioned from Grant Thornton, on the post office network. According to that report, the network is at a critical juncture and faces an annual shortfall of €17 million from 2021 onwards if a PSO levy is not introduced. It has been long-standing policy of successive Governments that postal services will not be directly subsidised by Government. The announcement by the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, that social welfare payments, which had moved to a fortnightly schedule from the end of March, will be restored to a weekly schedule from 2 November, is very welcome. The IPU had raised concerns regarding the impact of that change on local businesses and has also now welcomed this announcement.

Government efforts have also been focused on supporting An Post in the roll-out of new services and the delivery of its strategic plan. The ongoing transformation in the company aims to ensure the financial viability of An Post and the continued fulfilment of its mandate to deliver a mail delivery service and a viable post office network. The Government has already made €50 million available in State funding to support the renewal of the post office network and a further €15 million has been made available to go towards the continued fulfilment of a five-day per week mail service.

The Minister also recently approved capital expenditure designed to develop the newer elements of An Post's financial services business and mitigate declining core mail volumes and revenues on the retail side of the business. A report by an interdepartmental group on the provision of offline Government services will be published in the coming months and considered as part of the national digital strategy. It proposes a more coherent approach to offline service provision, with the adoption of a whole-of-government approach, which should be driven centrally. The sustainability of the post office network is of enormous importance and significant work has been undertaken already on the renewal of the network as part of the transformation programme.

Consolidation of the network has seen 152 post offices closed as part of the transformation programme, with business transferred to 128 nearby offices. Some 89% of these offices saw an uplift in business and 51% saw double-digit growth, with an average growth across the 128 post offices of 9.6%. The impact of co-location has been positive, with business in co-located offices up 11% compared to stand-alone offices, which includes An Post's own large 46 stand-alone company offices. As a key pillar of the transformation strategy in 2018 this has worked, with 62% of the network now co-located. This has increased from 48% in 2018 and the target for the network is 70%.

The capital investment put in place as part of the transformation agreement with postmasters helps on the relocations. An Post has been proactive in taking a range of steps in recent years to diversify into new revenue streams for postmasters through the provision of new services and the sale of additional retail products. These initiatives include the expansion of financial services products with the launch of the An Post Money brand and the introduction of an An Post current account, credit cards and loans, as well as growing foreign exchange business and introducing card-based foreign exchange services. I also refer to the expansion of e-commerce services, with a particular focus on the SME market, with such services being available across the counter in post offices to facilitate the growth in parcel business. This has also facilitated growth in existing retail lines, such as gift cards, lottery tickets, bill payment and money transfer, through the expansion of these retail lines and focused promotion in all offices. I also refer to the introduction of new, green-based initiatives, such as the green hub for home refurbishment and retrofitting.

In addition to investment in post offices, through its capital investment fund, An Post has invested in training in all post offices, in 2019 and 2020, to better equip postmasters to run their businesses. It has been noted in the House before that post offices must be equipped with a range of services which will attract and retain footfall, but these measures are pointless unless the public use the services provided by post offices. Key to the survival of any renewed post office network is the provision of a range of services which are attractive to customers and of value to An Post. The manner and method by which the public conducts its business has altered as a result of the pandemic. Determining what Government services will best fit the bill in this current context is no easy challenge.

See this speech in context